Tag Archives: Chronic Pain

Of all those in high profile positions who have suffered some of the worst antidepressant adverse reactions ever while it all remained basically unknown both to the family and the public it is Prince Charles and Princess Diana, so I am very pleased to see Charles making the statement supporting alternatives!

Prince Charles Fights for Alternative Treatments

Prince Charles wrote: “The only reason I persist in my efforts over integrated healthcare – despite waves of invective over the years from parts of the Medical and Scientific Establishments – is because I cannot bear people suffering unnecessarily when a complimentary approach could make a real difference.”

He went on to suggest illness should be treated with a “whole person approach” rather than a “reductionist focus on the particular ailment.”

He suggested alternative remedies could be used to treat “effectiveness gaps” in mainstream medicine, especially with:

I think every woman on the planet must have watched the fairy tail wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. It was beautiful and they seemed so very happy that day. So it pained me greatly to witness what happened to the entire Royal family when Princess Di was given Prozac to cope with Postpartum Depression.

Here is the official drug company version of what happened to Diana which is straight from their front group – NAMI’s website [see this to learn the drug industry/NAMI connection: http://www.drugawareness.org/senator-grassleys-probe-discovered-nami-is-funded-81-by-pharmaceuticals/] where they blame everything on the so called “mental illnesses” Diana suffered which they are actually causing with their antidepressants. How sad and tragic the entire situation was for Charles, Diana, and their sons who were growing up believing their births were what caused their mother so many issues rather than Prozac driving her crazy!

“… Diana suffered post-partum depression after giving birth to Prince William, which she described in an interview with the BBC in 1995.”

…Diana struggled with bulimia and self-harm, both [side effects of Prozac and other antidepressants] coping mechanisms due to the stress of her marriage, as well as the pressure of being thrust into the public eye. She was constantly hounded by the paparazzi and the details around her loveless marriage were public knowledge.

“You have so much pain inside yourself that you try and hurt yourself on the outside because you want help, but it’s the wrong help you’re asking for,” Diana said. “I was actually crying out because I wanted to get better in order to go forward and continue my duty and my role as wife, mother, Princess of Wales. [Because we have LONG called antidepressants the “Divorce Pills” Diana was being given the very thing that would destroy what her goals were: “to go forward and continue my duty and my role as wife, mother, Princess of Wales.”]

“So yes, I did inflict upon myself. I didn’t like myself, I was ashamed because I couldn’t cope with the pressures.”

“Diana’s bouts of depression, eating disorders and self-harm surrounded her with stigma. She was called unstable, attention-seeking and crazy in the press.

“(My self-harm and depression) gave everybody a wonderful new label: Diana’s unstable and Diana’s mentally unbalanced,” she told the BBC.”

[When, in fact, it was the Prozac’s increasing of serotonin levels that was making her appear crazy and to self harm. Serotonin is what LSD and PCP mimic in order to produce hallucinations and psychotic breaks. In fact the chances of psychosis with Prozac are TEN times higher than the rate of psychosis from Postpartum!]

Original article: http://www2.nami.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Not_Alone/Princess_Diana.htm

After suffering such serious reactions to Prozac as serious as throwing herself down stairs she also went on international television accusing Charles of things I am sure were a shock to him to hear. (as so many other husbands and wives of those on antidepressants have been falsely accused of everything that has happened in the lives of their mates who are taking antidepressants). The extremely vivid nightmares which patients cannot distinguish between the nightmare and reality begin to become a part of their new drug-induced reality and as Kramer points out in Listening to Prozac – the drug rewrites your history and turns “molehills into mountains” in your life – just what someone who is depressed needs, right?!

All the bulimia, self harm, false allegations, and divorce can be traced right back to Diana’s Prozac use far more than everything else it was all attributed to. So concerned was I about her with so many serious reactions coupled with the increase in adverse reactions her head injuries she must have suffered in the falls would bring on, that I feared her own use of Prozac, rather than someone else’s use of Prozac, would be the cause of her death. But thankfully Diana was also very much into alternative treatments and used essential aromatherapy oils to help her with her depression which I am sure helped to counter the negative effects of the medication. She may have also been using homeopath treatments as well.

Knowing what I know about the accusations made by those on these medications I saw right through Diana’s BBC interview and could only empathize with poor Charles since unlike most wives, she was in a position to make these allegations to the world. How much of it all was true lies to be seen, but when I have heard the exact same things repeated over and over and over again by those on antidepressants and then proven false in the end and have them recant those accusations after coming off the medications (something Diana never had a chance to do) I will stand on the side of those allegations being unfounded.

Besides that I knew something of Charles’ character because I dated an incredible young doctor from Austria who had just spent a week as the honored guest at Buckingham Palace just before I met him and we began to date. He was being honored for his work by coming to spend a week with Charles. He had nothing but good to say about him. He was extremely impressed with him as a person and with his great intellect. As well as I know this doctor I know him to have incredible insight into others and have never had any reason to doubt what he shared with me about Charles and his character.

Tragically Diana lost her life to Prozac when her driver,Henri Paul, suffered out of character compulsions for alcohol on the drug. Although described by all who knew him as a non-drinker on Prozac Henri began to drink to the point that he was treated with a medication to help him stop drinking and his blood alcohol at the time of the accident was three times the legal limit!

The compulsions for alcohol were the first thing to catch my attention with Prozac as I witnessed over and over non-drinkers becoming alcoholic almost overnight when placed on antidepressants. [You can read about the serotonin-induced alcohol compulsions here: http://www.drugawareness.org/ssris-and-alcohol/] So I called the police in Paris and told them I had no doubt that the driver was indeed on Prozac and they should check. A week later the police made the public statement that they had found that Henri Paul was on Prozac at the time of the crash. The truth is that it was Prozac that destroyed Princess Di’s life and robbed her of life itself in the end!

Ann Blake Tracy, Executive Director,

International Coalition for Drug Awareness

drugawareness.org & ssristories.NETAuthor: ”Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? – Our Serotonin Nightmare – The Complete Truth of the Full Impact of Antidepressants Upon Us & Our World” & Withdrawal CD “Help! I Can’t Get Off My Antidepressant!”

WITHDRAWAL WARNING: In sharing this information about adverse reactions to antidepressants I always recommend that you also give reference to my CD on safe withdrawal, Help! I Can’t Get Off My Antidepressant!, so that we do not have more people dropping off these drugs too quickly – a move which I have warned from the beginning can be even more dangerous than staying on the drugs!

WITHDRAWAL HELP: You can find the hour and a half long CD on safe and effective withdrawal helps here: http://store.drugawareness.org/ And if you need additional consultations with Ann Blake-Tracy, you can book one at www.drugawareness.org or sign up for one of the memberships for the International Coalition for Drug Awareness which includes free consultations as one of the benefits of that particular membership plan. You can even get a whole month of access to the withdrawal CD with tips on rebuilding after the meds, all six of my DVDs, hundreds of radio interviews, lectures, TV interviews I have done over the years PLUS my book on antidepressants with more information than you will find anywhere else for only $30 membership for a month (that is only $5 more than the book alone would cost) at www.drugawareness.org. (Definitely the best option to save outrageous postage charges for those out of the country!)

Last month I was prescribed a low dose of nortriptyline (10mg) to help with nerve pain. After a week I was told to increase my dose to 20mg. On day 9, I woke up with severe depression. I had been feeling mildly depressed on and off because of chronic pain, but this was different. It was on par with losing a family member or going through a difficult breakup. I couldn’t stop crying all day, and I remember thinking that I just wanted to die. Luckily I knew of the drug’s potential side effects, and I my mom and husband were very supportive. I stopped taking the drug immediately, and the next day I was back to normal, at least emotionally.
There was, however, another side effect that has not gone away, even now after being off it for over a month. Several days after I started taking the drug, I developed an extremely itchy rash on all my toes. My feet also became quite sweaty. The next evening, after my shower, my toes and the ball of one foot became red, hot to the touch, and swollen. The heel and my other foot still felt cool. It went away after about an hour. The same thing happened the next evening to the other foot. It progressed until both feet were flaring up every evening, and the symptoms were lasting all night long. It seemed that it was always triggered by heat. It turns out I had developed a condition called erythromelalgia. My online research has shown a link between SSRIs and erythromelalgia, and I believe that TCAs can have the same effect as well. I’ve read that the excess serotonin in the brain causes the body to stop producing serotonin, and the subsequent depletion of serotonin in the blood then causes a vasodilating effect (hence the redness and swelling).
I can only hope that my body will eventually re-regulate its serotonin levels and these symptoms will eventually go away. The neurologist who prescribed the drug is clueless and very hesitant to admit there is a connection.

Paragraph one reads: “Steven Foster, the man accused of the brutal slaying of gas station attendant Hegazy Sayed, had prescriptions for at least two anti-depressant drugs leading up to Sunday night’s shooting.”

Paragraph four reads: “Aviles, who helps out in the rental/ management office of Bristol Lodging Sober House ­ a 15-unit rooming house at 68 Broadway where Foster had been living alone ­ was able to identify two of the meds as Cymbalta and Trazodone.”

Steven Foster, the man accused of the brutal slaying of gas station attendant Hegazy Sayed, had prescriptions for at least two anti-depressant drugs leading up to Sunday night’s shooting.

Marlene Aviles said that when she cleaned out the single-room, efficiency apartment that Foster had rented the three weeks prior to the execution-style killing, she retrieved “six or seven” containers left on top of the refrigerator ­ all of them bearing Foster’s name and all nearly full of prescription pills.

Aviles, who helps out in the rental/ management office of Bristol Lodging Sober House ­ a 15-unit rooming house at 68 Broadway where Foster had been living alone ­ was able to identify two of the meds as Cymbalta and Trazodone.

Both drugs are anti-depressants.

Trazodone, in particular, is also used for sleeplessness and chronic pain.

Aviles also said that Foster had mentioned to her that he suffered from Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that affects the feet and legs and sometimes the arms and upper body.

A woman answering the front door Thursday at the Dighton house where Foster’s ex-girlfriend and young son reportedly both live refused to identify herself ­ but she did confirm that Foster had been prescribed anti-depressants and that he suffers from Guillain-Barré syndrome.

According to Taunton District Court records, an abuse protection order request on behalf of Christine Lima of Dighton was formally filed against Foster on Oct. 26, the day after the shooting ­ and also the day that he was charged with murder, armed robbery, intimidating a witness and possession of an illegal firearm, the latter of which police say was a stolen .22-caliber rifle.

The 10 p.m. shooting of Sayed, a 45-year-old Egyptian immigrant who is survived by a wife in Taunton and four children in Egypt, was especially abhorrent to many people for its sudden brutality.

Authorities allege that Foster, instead of walking into the gas station office and demanding money, pre-emptively opened fire through a glass door hitting Sayed once in the head.

He next walked in, pumped a second bullet into Sayed’s head while he lay on the floor and made off with $15, according to the Bristol County DA’s office.

Less than five minutes later Foster allegedly was captured on surveillance footage walking barefoot into a nearby CVS store and then exiting with a pair of slippers.

Authorities say he lost his shoes after the shooting when he ran into some woods to change his clothes.

Foster’s Guillain-Barré syndrome, which besides producing weakness and tingling in the feet and legs can in some cases leads to paralysis, could have contributed to a state of depression, said Dr. Harvey Reback, a Fall River-based internal medicine physician.

Reback, who likened the advanced effects of the disorder to those of polio, said that someone with an existing psychotic diagnosis, who feels better after taking an anti-depressant and then stops, can be courting disaster.

Upon hearing some of the details of the Sayed shooting case, Reback immediately drew an analogy to the brutal stabbing attack earlier this week on a female psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

“It’s my gut feeling that he may not have been taking his medicine,” he said of the MGH assault.

In the Boston incident the attacker was shot to death by an off-duty guard, but not before grievously injuring his vicitm.

“If someone is crazy to begin with and they’re not taking their medicine, they can go off the deep end,” Reback said.

Bristol County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Gregg Miliote, when asked to comment on the possibility that Foster was off his meds the night of the shooting, said that he had no information pertaining to the defendant’s use of prescription pills.

“I’m not aware of any mental health issues,” Miliote said.

Foster, who is being held without bail, is scheduled to appear for a probable cause hearing on Nov. 20.

Miliote said that although the DA’s office has a strong case, it could take as long as two years before the trial gets underway, not unusual when it comes to trials that can lead to very lengthy sentences.

“Look at the Elizabeth Smart case, they just started the trial,” he said, referring to the 14-year Utah girl who in 2002 was kidnapped by a husband and wife, and then allegedly raped repeatedly by her male captor until being rescued nine months later.

I have been diagnosed with Occipital Neuralgia (Nerve Pain in the Occipital Region of the head) by a number of different doctors. I have tried different medications to relieve the nerve pain, but none of them seemed to relieve the pain completely. One doctor suggested I try an antidepressant. I told him that I wasnt depressed, just in pain. He told me th antidepressants help treat chronic pain. Thus, I decided to try this antidepressant called Paxil for my nerve pain.

I took it for six months, but wish I hadnt! After six months, I felt like I couldnt think straight (I was in a zombie like state), had memory loss, gained weight, experienced sexual dysfunction, etc. I came off Paxil cold turkey, but realized that was a mistake (I didnt realize at the time that I was suppose to come off these type of medications very, very slowly). The doctor wanted me back on the medication, but didnt provide an explanation. I told him why would I go back on a medication that has these side effects. I didnt go back on the medication. I became severally depressed (even though I wasnt depressed before taking the Paxil).

I almost lost my job because of my depressed mood. I honestly dont know how I managed to keep it. After about 6 months of no medication I was given short doses (a weeks worth) of anti-inflammatory steroids for my nerve pain. That made my depression worse. I read later that steroids deplete serotonin. I started to develop nerve pain down the back of my legs. I think the Depression and nerve pain down the back of my legs was caused by my brain chemistry being altered by Paxil and then the introduction of another medication made the brain chemistry worse (I didnt think about this at that time).

So by now I had Depression, Occipital Neuralgia and nerve pain down the back of my legs. Another doctor suggested that I try a different antidepressant. I told him of the unpleasant experience I had with Paxil. He recommended that I try Prozac. Told me it was different from Paxil. I tried it, but was very weary because of my experience with Paxil. The only reason I tried it was because I wanted rid of the Depression, Occipital Neuralgia and the nerve pain down the back of my legs.

After about four months on Prozac, I encountered similar side effects to the Paxil. The only difference instead of weight gain, I experienced weight loss. I came off this medication, but this time very, very slowly. I learned my lesson from my Paxil days. While on the Prozac it didnt really help my depression or nerve pain down the back of my legs. I was still depressed, had the Occipital Neuralgia and the nerve pain down the back of my legs. I didnt know what to do. I tried some exercise, but just didnt feel right.

I know that Paxil and Prozac had something to do with the way I was feeling. The Depression and nerve pain down the back of my legs became to much, that I went on another antidepressant called Celexa. I told my doctor about the experiences I had on Paxil and Prozac. He told me this is a newer antidepressant and has fewer side effects than Paxil and Prozac. I took that for about 1 and 1/2 years. It took care of my Depression, but didnt really take care of the nerve pain down the back of my legs. I eventually came off the because of the side effects. The side effects of Celexa were similar to Paxil, but not as harsh.

I am still stuck with Depression, Occipital Neuralgia and nerve pain down the back of my legs. I realize that these antidepressants messed up my brain chemistry. I have ordered PROZAC: PANACEA OR PANDORA? By Ann Blake Tracy, PhD. I hope this book can provide some answers and solutions. I am also considering taking the herb St Johns Wort, but will read the book first to see if I can get any answers/solutions to my problems.

Is there any action I can take against the makers of these drugs and the doctors that prescribed them to me? All of this has happened over a four year period. I have had the Occipital Neuralgia a lot longer than that.

6/11/2002

This is Survivor Story number 21.
Total number of stories in current database is 48

Book Excerpts

BOOK TESTIMONIALS

"VERY BOLD AND INFORMATIVE"

"PRICELESS INFORMATION THAT IS GIVING ME BACK TO ME"

"THE ABSOLUTE BEST REFERENCE FOR ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUGS"

"WELL DOCUMENTED &
SCIENTIFICALLY RESEARCHED"

"I was stunned at the amount of research Ann B. Tracy has done on this subject. Few researchers go to as much trouble agressively gathering information on the adverse reactions of Prozac, Zoloft and other SSRIs."
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Administration

Dropping “cold turkey” off any medication, most especially mind altering medications, can often be MORE DANGEROUS than staying on the drugs. With antidepressants the FDA has now warned that any abrupt change in dose, whether increasing or decreasing the dose, can produce suicide, hostility, or psychosis – generally a manic psychosis when you then get your diagnosis for Bipolar Disorder. Of course drug-induced Bipolar is temporary so you need to learn more about that if it has already happened to you. We have a DVD on explaining this and how to recover from it: “Bipolar? Are You Really Bipolar or Misdiagnosed Due to the Use of or Abrupt Discontinuation of an Antidepressant”: https://store.drugawareness.org/product/bipolar-disorder-streaming/

The most dangerous and yet the most common mistake someone coming off any antidepressant, atypical antipsychotic, or benzodiazaphine makes is coming off these drugs too rapidly. Tapering off VERY, VERY, VERY SLOWLY–OVER MONTHS OR YEARS (The general rule of thumb for those on antidepressants (ANY antidepressant, not just the current antidepressant – add up all time on any of them) for less than a year is to take half the amount of time on them to wean off and for long-term users for each 5 years on psychiatric drugs of any kind the general rule of thumb is at least a year or more.), NOT JUST WEEKS OR MONTHS!—has proven the safest and most effective method of withdrawal from these types of medications. Thus the body is given the time it needs to readjust its own chemical levels. Patients must be warned to come very slowly off these drugs by shaving minuscule amounts off their pills each day, as opposed to cutting them.

WARNING: The practice of taking a pill every other day throws you into withdrawal every other day and can be very dangerous when you consider the FDA warnings on abrupt changes in dose.

This cannot be stressed strongly enough! This information on EXTREMELY gradual withdrawal is the most critical piece of information that someone facing withdrawal from these drugs needs to have.

A REMINDER: IT IS EASIER TO GET DOWN OFF A MOUNTAINTOP ONE GUARDED STEP AT A TIME THAN TO JUMP FROM THE TOP TO THE BOTTOM.

No matter how few or how many side effects you have had on these antidepressants, withdrawal is a whole new world. The worst part of rapid withdrawal can be delayed for several months AFTER you quit. So even if you think you are doing okay you quickly find that it becomes much worse. If you do not come off correctly and rebuild your body as you do, you risk:

Creating bouts of overwhelming depression
Producing a MUCH longer withdrawal and recovery period than if you had come off slowly
Overwhelming fatigue causing you to be unable to continue daily tasks or costing your job
Having a psychotic break brought on by the terrible insomnia from the rapid withdrawal, and then being locked in a psychiatric ward and being told you are either schizophrenic or most likely that you are Bipolar.
Ending up going back on the drugs (each period on the drugs tends to be more dangerous and problematic than the previous time you were on the drugs) and having more drugs added to calm the withdrawal effects
Seizures and other life threatening physical reactions
Violent outbursts or rages
REM Sleep Behavior Disorder which has always been known as a drug withdrawal state and is known to include both suicide and homicide – both committed in a sleep state.
Although my book, Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? Our Serotonin Nightmare!, contains massive amounts of information you can find nowhere else on these drugs, it does not have the extensive amount of information contained in the CD focusing mainly on withdrawal issues. The CD contains newer and updated information on safe withdrawal from these drugs. It details over an hour and a half the safest ways found over the past 30 years to withdraw from antidepressants and the drugs so often prescribed with them – the atypical antipsychotics and benzodiazapenes. And it explains why it is safest to withdraw tiny amounts from all of the medications at the same time rather than withdrawing only one at a time.

It also lists many safe alternative treatments that can assist you in getting though the withdrawal and lists other alternatives to avoid which are not safe after using antidepressants. And it contains information on how to rebuild your health after you have had it destroyed by these drugs so that you never end up feeling a need to be on these drugs again.

The CD is very inexpensive and will save you thousands in medical bills which far too many end up spending trying to do it on your own without this information. (One woman who decided she was okay coming down twice as fast as recommended paid a terrible price. After withdrawing she suffered the REM Sleep Disorder early one morning and attacked her husband with a baseball bat (for which she has no memory) and which ended their lifelong courtship and marriage. And cost her $30,000 to be in a psychiatric facility where they put her on five more drugs plus the antidepressant she had just withdrawn from! You can see why many have lamented that they wished they would have had the information on this CD before attempting withdrawal.

To order Ann Blake-Tracy’s book go to: https://store.drugawareness.org/product/prozac-panacea-or-pandora-our-serotonin-nightmare-2014-ebook-download/

To order the CD, “Help! I Can’t Get Off My Antidepressant!” go to: http://store.drugawareness.org/product/help-i-cant-get-off-my-antidepressant-mp3-download/

This is a CD doctors can also benefit from when attempting to withdraw their patients from these drugs which the World Health Organization has now told us are addictive and produce withdrawal. And doctors have begun to recommend the CD to their patients.

The Aftermath of Antidepressants

In 2005 the FDA issued strong warnings about changes in dose for antidepressants. They warned that ANY abrupt change in dose of an antidepressant, whether increasing or decreasing the dose….so that would include switching antidepressants, starting or stopping antidepressants, forgetting to take a pill, skipping doses, taking a pill one day & not the next, etc…. can cause suicide, hostility, and/or psychosis – generally a manic psychosis which is why so many are given a diagnosis for Bipolar Disorder after this withdrawal reaction that can so severely impair sleep leading to a psychotic break.

Clearly coming down too rapidly can be very, very dangerous. We encourage you to arm yourself with knowledge by downloading our CD on safe withdrawal.

http://www.drugawareness.org/wp-content/uploads/wpsc/product_images/thumbnails/helpicant.jpgclick here. order a CD download.
WARNING: In sharing this information about adverse reactions to antidepressants I always recommend that you also give reference to my CD on safe withdrawal, Help! I Can’t Get Off My Antidepressant!, so that we do not have more people dropping off these drugs too quickly – a move which I have warned from the beginning can be even more dangerous than staying on the drugs!

The FDA also now warns that any abrupt change in dose of an antidepressant can produce suicide, hostility or psychosis. And these reactions can either come on very rapidly or even be delayed for months depending upon the adverse effects upon sleep patterns when the withdrawal is rapid! You can find the CD on safe and effective withdrawal helps here: http://store.drugawareness.org/